Local skater comes up short of podium at national championships
KINGSTON – Local figure skater Trennt Michaud and his partner Hope McLean experienced just how close figure skating competitions can be Wednesday night.
Their hopes for a podium finish at the 2015 Canadian National Figure Skating Championships were dashed by errors that saw them finish fourth in the junior pairs division. They were a mere 1.18 points behind second place.
“We had some mistakes but we skated what we could today,” said Michaud, who resides in Trenton. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t our best skate but it was our first Canadians together. It’s a lot to handle, we haven’t been together for even a year yet, so I’m happy with what we’ve done.”
“I was disappointed with how we – how I competed, but Trennt was there to help me and he just brought me back up and helped me finish it,” said McLean, who comes from Newbury, Ont.
The two only began competing together this figure skating season. Michaud had previously come in 2nd at last years nationals in the Novice Pairs category with his former partner Judith Murtha-Anderson.
| Rank | Score | Name | Segment1 | Segment2 | |
| 1 | 133.14 | Mary Orr / Phelan Simpson – Western Ontario | 48.04 (1) | 85.10 (1) | |
| 2 | 120.30 | Shalena Rau / Sebastian Arcieri – Western Ontario | 39.25 (6) | 81.05 (2) | |
| 3 | 119.62 | Rachael Dobson / Alexander Sheldrick – Western Ontario | 40.19 (5) | 79.43 (3) | |
| 4 | 119.12 | Hope McLean / Trennt Michaud – Eastern Ontario | 42.74 (2) | 76.38 (4) | |
| 5 | 117.35 | Keelee Gingrich / Davin Portz – AB/NT/NU | 41.86 (3) | 75.49 (5) | |
| 6 | 113.69 | Camille Ruest / Samuel Morais – QC | 41.01 (4) | 72.68 (6) | |
| 7 | 106.28 | Bryn Hoffman / Bryce Chudak – AB/NT/NU | 39.07 (7) | 67.21 (8) | |
| 8 | 104.14 | Allison Eby / Brett Varley – Western Ontario | 35.18 (8) | 68.96 (7) | |
| 9 | 93.67 | Naomie Boudreau / Cédric Savard – QC | 33.66 (9) | 60.01 (9) | |
| 10 | 85.82 | Kassandra Trépanier / David-Alexandre Paradis – QC | 31.87 (10) | 53.95 (10) |
Scoring table for the 2015 National Figure Skating Championships Junior Pair’s division.. Segment 1 is the short program, segment 2 is the free program. The brackets refer to each skater’s placing within the respective program.
Michaud and McLean were in second place after the short program. However, a couple of falls and a cancelled throw cost them the points they needed to secure the podium.
| Element | Base Value | GOE | Score | ||||
| 1. | Double Twist | 2Tw2 | 3.20 | 0.30 | 3.50 | ||
| 2. | Double Axel | 2A | 3.30 | -1.50 | 1.80 | ||
| 3. | Lift Toe Lasso | 5TLi3 | 5.50 | 1.00 | 6.50 | ||
| 4. | Forward Inside Death Spiral | FiDs2 | 3.00 | 0.90 | 3.90 | ||
| 5. | Jump Combo | 2Lo+2T+C | 3.10 | 0.30 | 3.40 | ||
| 6. | Throw Salchow | 1STh | 1.10 | -0.34 | 0.76 | ||
| 7. | Lift Group 3 | 3Li4 | 4.00 | 0.50 | 4.50 | ||
| 8. | Choreographic Sequence | ChSqB | 2.00 | 0.80 | 2.80 | ||
| 9. | Throw Triple Loop | 3LoTh | 5.00 | -2.10 | 2.90 | ||
| 10. | Fly Change Combination Spin | FCCoSp3p4 | 3.50 | -0.01 | 3.49 | ||
| 11. | Pair Combination Spin | PCoSp2p1 | 2.10 | -0.43 | 1.67 | ||
| Total Element Score | 35.22 | ||||||
| x – Credit for second half, base value multiplied by 1.1 | |||||||
| Deductions | Points |
| Fall/Interuption | 2.00 |
| Total Deductions | 2.00 |
Element scores and deductions from Michaud’s and McLean’s free skate. “Base value” is the base score attributed to a given move. “GOE” refers to grade of execution, which judges mark on a scale of -3 to +3.
Michaud said they weren’t synchronized during the throw.
“We were just off on our timing. We were both at different times, so when that happens you can’t really do much,” he said.
Roland Michaud, Trennt’s grandfather, said he was happy that the pair avoided any possible danger in the move.
“I applaud them for [cancelling the throw] because he could have thrown her and he could have hurt her. So he was smart enough not to throw her. They weren’t ready, but they kept right on skating,” he said.
McLean said she regretted that they did not perform like they did while preparing.
“We were more relaxed and it was easier-going on the practice. We got really uptight in the program and it wasn’t as good,” said McLean.
Michaud also skated in the Junior Men’s singles shortly after performing in pairs. He would finish 16th in the division. He expressed some relief in finishing his competition after doing two skates so close together.
“It’s always nice after you do a second program right afterwards to be done. It was a good skate [the men’s singles]. Couple of little mistakes but other than that it was good. It was nice to be done.”
Michaud and McLean said that topping the podium was not necessarily their first goal this season.
“We weren’t really going for first place at everything,” said Michaud. “We were brand new. We just wanted to get all our elements down, and just start to skate and get to know each other well. We’ve done that a lot.”
“[Our goal] was just to get our tricks down. Try to beat ourselves every time,” said McLean.
McLean’s mother Christa said she thought their performance was good considering how relatively new the pair is to one another.
“It’s her first time at nationals so I think they did alright,” she said. “They haven’t been together that long so I think it’s commendable. They did the best they could and that’s all you can expect.”
Trennt Michaud said there’s a lot of work ahead for the pair.
“We’ve got some time now,” he said. “We’re gonna go home, and we’re gonna take everything apart. Work on new tricks, work on getting bigger elements and work on getting everything consistent. We’ve got some shows to do which will help us with the performance part – be able to skate to audiences and get ourselves ready for next season.”
Roland Michaud said that Trennt has a bright future ahead of him.
“They’ll learn from it. It’s not the end of the world. Get ready, because your going to see him an awful lot later on.”
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